The present invention relates to improvements in metal teeming apparatus and methods. More specifically, the invention relates to a particular arrangement for, and method of operating, a metal teeming apparatus of the sliding gate tape in whicn gas can be advantageously injected for any of a plurality of purposes.
When molten metal is teemed from a vessel, such as a ladle, the outflow of metal is often controlled by a sliding gate valve. One such valve has a plurality of orificed refractory plates, one of which is a slidably movable gate plate. It is not uncommon for the movable gate of a sliding gate valve to become blocked by matter solidifying in the gate plate orifice or downstream thereof. When this happens, the valve may need to be taken out of service, be disassembled and have new refractories fitted. The operator may, instead, endeavor to "lance" the valve clear by a blast of reactive gas. Lancing is hazardous. Moreover, in many valve systems the gas so impinges on the refractories that it can actually harm them.